HOA takes an aggressive stance on stinky garbage

Does your garbarge stink? I know mine does – especially in these hot summer months. If you happen to get a good whiff from someone's open trash can, it can be enough to curl your toes! And it makes sense, too. Think about what we throw away – packaging from meat & chicken, maybe some food leftovers, dirty diapers, dog poo, and who knows what else. Then we let it all simmer together inside a closed container in the 100 degree heat for a few days before the City's collection services come to pick it up... Yuck!



I spoke with one person recently whose HOA was proposing a fairly radical idea: freeze your trash. They were going to ask all residents of the condominium complex to wrap their perishable garbage in plastic bags & store it in their freezer to keep it from spoiling. Then, the night before the trash pickup, they could move all their frozen trash into their trash can & place the can at the curb.

Could this be effective? Probably. Could this be practically implemented? Not unless it's a grass roots effort and all the residents of the complex are calling for it. I don't think the association is going to be able to get enough support to pass this idea – who has that much extra space in their freezer, and who wants to keep their trash right next to their food?

Good luck with that one, HOA Board. I like your intentions, but I don't think this one's going to fly. Personally, I'll stick with occasionally washing out my smelly trash can!

- Chris Butterworth